Puzzle Bouse

I have recently become intrigued with a pattern for a Puzzle Blouse that I found in the book Simple Serger Sewing by Julie Johnson.  You can also find a variation of it by Suzy Seed on the Alice's House blog.  Basically it is a square piece of fabric that gets 3 serged seams and serged edges on the hemline, armholes and neckline. The finished blouse is on the bias. When I made my first one, the tangerine shown below, I realized that it makes a great bathing suit cover-up. So I proceeded to make a few for friends. The ones I like best are made of silky prints from Joann fabrics; they hang quite nicely.  The key to the size is making the square either your hip measurement or high bust measurement, whichever is greater. However, a 38 inch square makes a nice cover up for most sizes.  If you use the pattern for a blouse, you have to shorten it appropriately.

After you make the first one, it takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.  On the first one, it is truly puzzling to figure out how to make this serged blouse.  I actually do a rolled hem on the armholes, neckline and hemline.  The pink one is made from a soft cotton and instead of using a rolled hem stitch, I just serged around the openings. What I have learned is that I need alot more practice serging curves and probably need to take a serger class.

Zucchini and Potato Casserole

As I looked at the garden today, I saw that I had a zucchini and many small tomatoes.  I was having breaded Parmesan chicken with a salad and knew I needed a carb side dish.  Many times I have made a gratin by layering whatever vegetables I had on hand, so I proceeded to cube the zucchini into 1/2 pieces, cut the small tomatoes in half and sliced the potatoes in 1/2 inch slices.  I sprayed an 8x8 casserole dish with olive oil spray, threw in the zucchini cubes followed by the tomatoes.  I layered the potatoes ontop and seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with 2 tablespoons of margarine.  I popped it into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.  By this time it was starting to bubble but I saw that it had produced a little more liquid than I liked.  So I stirred in a tablespoon of Acini De Pepe and figured it would soak up the extra liquid from the vegetables. I baked for 15 minutes more and then topped with some shredded Parmesan cheese.  I let this cheese bake for a few minutes and my casserole was just the right consistency.  In addition, the little pasta beads had soaked up the additional liquid and were just yummy.  The vegetables were glazed with a delicious sauce rather than sitting in liquid.  This is so easy to make and bakes while you prepare the rest of your meal.  Experiment with various vegetables and different cheeses.  I am even thinking of layering some barley in my next casserole.

A Taggie for Maggie

It has been very hot this week so I spent a little extra time indoors sewing.  My daughter-in-law dropped off fabric for throw pillows so I figured I would whip them up.  Also my niece had a baby a few weeks ago and I wanted to make something personal for her.



A Taggie for Maggie

I got the idea for this taggie from a couple of posts on sewforum.com.  I used fleece for the center that I embroidered on and flannel for the borders and back.  Since she was 9 pounds and was born on June 9th, I was able to use the 9 for 2 stats - I am hoping my niece likes it!!

The pillows were made with outdoor canvas from Joann's.  The plain one were made from the method I described in an earlier post Decorator Pillows and the one with the sash I just added a rectangular tube of fabric and neatly sewed a button to the center after I added a pleat. I must add here that I just love sewing buttons on with my machine; I simply hate sewing buttons on by hand and with the sewing machine they are so much more secure. The pillow with the 4 buttons was just a strip of fabric that I finished both short ends; of course I sewed those 4 buttons on with my machine also.

Gifts for a Baby Shower

I recently made some items for another baby shower.  The nursery theme is pink and purple butterflies and the baby's name is Isabelle.  I made the baby bunting from Simplicity pattern #2165, as I did for a gift in a  previous post.  But this time I added the baby's name on the inside of the upper back, along with a butterfly.

I made a blanket of two different flannels, one side with butterfly print and the other plain so that i could embroider the name on the top.

I made 2 types of hats, both that I had not previously made but adorned both with butterflies.  I also bought a onesie and added a butterfly.  Lastly I made 2 burp cloths with flannel left over from the other items, a pacifier bib and a case for baby wipes.

Monogrammed Robe

My son wanted to give his wife a lightweight robe as a gift.  So I monogrammed it using the Fancy Monogram Font 1 from embroitique.com.  I used a cut away stabilizer to maintain the shape of the fine lines and also fused a piece of Solvy Tender Touch on the inside for comfort. 

Embroidered Golf Shirts

I was at Penney's today and found these 2 Xersion shirts for $14/each.  They are Quick-Dri, stretch and semi-fitted short sleeve shirts for sport activities.  Since they will be perfect for golf, and it has been unusually hot thus far this golf season, I bought a white and a mango one.  I thought they might look cute with a golfer emblem and decided to adorn them. The golfer stick lady design I had saved in my stash and, unfortunately, do not know the source.




For the first one (mango) I used a layer of No Show translucent mesh 1.5 oz. Wunderstitch stabilizer in the hoop and floated a sheet of Stitch and Tear underneath. Afterwards, I ironed a piece of  Sulky Tender Touch on the underside.  I found that fusible does not work well on this thin fabric, as it shows through.  So I removed the Tender Touch and it looks much better.

For the white I just hooped a piece of Wunderstitch 1.5 oz. mesh cutaway and am much happier with the result. This fabric is too thin to just use tear away on because the design would not keep its shape. The design on the mango one is 2"X2.33" and on the white it is 1.6"X1.9".  Although both are acceptable I prefer the smaller design.  Both look nice on and I think are just a little cuter with the design on them.

DIY Stagecoach Blind

I just made this stagecoach blind for my son's kitchen window.  My daughter-in-law selected the fabrics and the yellow-gold ribbon really makes it pop.  It is not just a window topper but a workable blind.  I basically used directions from eHow but modified the bottom to have a placket to hold a second identical rod.

She chose a decorator fabric for the top; Rich FC Jovial Island from Joann fabrics. The robin egg blue matches their KitchenAid Mixer.

We used an Offray grosgrain 1 1/2 inch ribbon; Yelgld 9.



The lining is a cotton; Meadow Lark Circle in orange

Too Many Eggs - Make a Frittata

I had way too many eggs that needed used this week so I made a frittata for lunch.  I gathered vegetables that I had in the fridge, some cheese and 10 eggs.  Any vegetables work as does any kind of shredded cheese to equal about 1 cup.  So here's what I used.

Carrots, broccoli, onions - all chopped but since I was sauteing all together I chopped the carrots smaller so they would be tender in the same time as the larger pieces of broccoli and onion.

So I had shredded cheddar cheese and I shredded a small block of pepper jack cheese to make 1 cup of combined cheese.  I knew my hubby would like some meat so I chopped up some Virginia baked ham to mix in also.  I had a small amount of chopped turkey bacon from last weekend so I figured I would throw it in also.

I used an 11 inch skillet that can be placed in the oven for the last minutes of baking.






I sauteed the vegetables in 2 tablespoons of olive oil till tender, about 4 minutes.  Then I stirred in the ham and cooked for a few minutes more.  Lastly I added the bacon bits and 3/4 cup of the cheese.  I stirred all together and then used my immersion blender to mix the 10 eggs.

I really like the immersion blender as I can use it in hot mixtures as well as cold. It is the perfect instrument to blend lumps out of your gravy.  You just have to remember to keep it on the bottom of the pan or pot when it is in motion.              

So when my ingredients were tender and all heated through, I poured in the eggs.  Then I sprinkled the remaining 1/4 cup of shredded cheese on top.  I also added a few twists of ground pepper over it all.  I usually add some salt but did not this time because I used ham and bacon and there would be enough salt.

I kept the pan over medium heat for a few minutes until the eggs were getting dry around the edge of pan.  Then I pop in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned.  The frittata is a perfect meal with some fruit or a small salad.  It can also be eaten cold later in the day.

Embroidered Gifts

I was asked to monogram a canvas tote bag as a birthday gift.  It is for an 80th birthday so I figured the recipient would like a classic font.  I used a font from Embroitique the Fancy Monogram 1. 


I also wanted to give some kitchen towels as small gifts at dinner on Mother's Day, so I made a design using The Fancy Monogram 1 for a 4 inch initial and then for the full name used the Embird Alphabet #23.  I used a small coffee cup symbol that I had downloaded from somewhere in the past.  I will use this combination again because I really like it.

Cheese Pop Appetizers

Happy Mother's Day to all!!  I was invited to my son's for dinner but I thought I would take an appetizer.  I had seen this on Pinterest so I modified the recipe a little and made them up.  My cheese balls are made of a combination of parmigiano-reggiano, 6 ounces of cream cheese and 6 ounces of havarti cheese.  Roll into small balls, insert lollipop stick and place in freezer to firm up for about 10 minutes.  Then roll in a mixture of chopped spinach, chopped thyme, 6 slices chopped bacon and 2 ounces of chopped pecans.  They were scrumptious and quite a hit.

Make Your Own Decorator Pillows

I always forget how easy it is to make decorator pillows until I get a request to do so.  Pillows are inexpensive and can drastically change the look of a room.  I usually make the envelope style just because it is easy to launder when necessary, but when I am short on fabric I will do panels and just sew the opening closed.

My daughter-in-law wanted to put bright pillows on her outdoor furniture so we bought outdoor canvas that resists mold and mildew.  I sometimes use it for indoor pillows because it holds its shape so well. 

First of all you need the pillow form so that you can determine how much fabric to buy.  For a 16 X 16 you will need 1/2 yard of fabric that is at least 40 inch wide.  The front piece will be cut 17 inches by 17 inches, essentially adding 1/2 inch to each side to allow for the 1/2 inch seam.  To make the overlapping back you will cut 2 rectangles 17 X 12.  So for any size pillow form, the front panel will be the width plus 1 inch and length plus 1 inch.  The back panels will be 3/4 of width and length plus 1 inch. If the fabric is lightweight, the back panel can be interfaced.

On the back panels, one of the long edges of each need to be finished as they will form the envelope. I use my Janome Coverpro because it will hem and overcast at the same time. I press under 1 inch on the length and then stitch on the front and the back is overcast.

Other options for finishing the back edge are serging the edge and then pressing under 1 inch. Also the edge could be turned under 1/4 inch and then pressed under 3/4 inch and sewn with a straight stitch.




Now you are ready to sew your pillow together.  First lay down your front panel, right side up.
Next place 1 back panel wrong side up onto the front panel matching all three unfinished edges.
The next back panel is placed wrong side up, matching the opposite 3 unfinished edges.
Pin securely.

Sew completely around the square backstitching at beginning and end.  When you get to the section where the back sections overlap, backstitch over the 1 inch section to strengthen this area.  Stop sewing 1/2 inch from end of side and pivot fabric to sew the next side.

Before you turn right side out, cut across the point at each corner to reduce bulk and allow for a nice point when turned.

Now turn right side out, use a dowel to push out the corner and press before inserting the pillow.

DIY iPad Case

Well my daughter got a new iPad and wanted a customized case.  She went to Joann Fabrics and chose a light violet swirly print cotton for the outside and a soft yellow flannel for the lining.  I looked online for a free pattern and used a combination of 2 patterns to get the look she wanted. The 2 sites for the patterns are Tablet Coverlet  by Pat Bravo and the Kindle Case by 100 Billion Stars; I used the measurements from the directions from 100 Billion Stars and the strip of lining on the outside and squared flap from the Tablet Coverlet.  She wanted a button and elastic loop for the closure also.







Instead of using fleece and interfacing, I chose to use 1 layer of Soft and Stable because it provides cushion and support without adding bulk.  I would definitely recommend using it for purses, totes and cases for electronic devices. This case only took about an hour to make but the funny part was that I could not figure out how to slip the lining inside the outside; it was like a puzzle to me but I figured it out finally!

Baby Shower Gifts

Here are my latest creations; gifts for a baby shower.


I embroidered these designs on onesies for the fall holidays- baby due in July so I figured the 3-6 months size would be good for the fall.  I got the designs from  Planet Applique; all their designs stitch out so well.  I personally like the Halloween one best!

I made this bunting from the Simplicity pattern #2165.  This is the first time I made this bunting but it will now be a staple for a baby gift.  The instructions were easy to follow and it came out perfect the first time and is truly just too adorable.  If you used a solid fabric for the outside you could personalize with some embroidery also.  It only takes 7/8 of a yard each for the inside and outside fabrics.  I used flannel for both since it will be used for the summer and fall.  If you were making for a winter baby you could use fleece or minky for it.

I also made this personalized blanket for the new baby and pacifier bib and baby wipes case.

The blanket is made of fleece with the top embroidered portion made of flannel with another applique that I think I had downloaded from SewForum but I cannot find the exact source.  The back is made of the same flannel that I used for the top of the front and also for the inside of the bunting.  I found the pattern for the bib that has a tab to hold a pacifier on the Internet as a freebie; it was made by Nicole Scott but I do not have the link any longer. The embroidered lion on the bib is fromSewforum by Robin. I actually made the bib and case from receiving blankets that were on the baby gift registry.The case for the baby wipes was a free pattern from simplicity.com Baby Wipes Case.  I hate making binding but it did not turn out too badly, although I need a no fail way to sew binding on.

The Egg Wars - 2012

And the winner is:

Our Easter tradition is the Breaking of the Eggs. My husband and daughter dutifully color our hard boiled eggs each year the day before Easter.  When the children were small, the egg wars took place right after the Easter Baskets hunt but now that the children are adults the Wars have expanded and found their place before dinner after all guests have arrived.

Each guest picks their egg; color and overall physique play a part in the selection.  The goal is to be the last Egg standing without a crack. Single elimination bouts take place.  Holding your egg, usually with individual technique, you get one hit at your contender. The Egg without a crack moves on.

We had 14 contenders this year.  Spouses sparred off first; the second round had just one woman, but she was clearly eliminated in the first bout in the second round.  Special handling techniques were used in the last bouts but a Winner prevailed!  The swirly baby blue egg, in the pearly swirl pattern, came out of the last bout without a crack and found its way to the egg pedestal where it reigned over the Easter day proceedings!